Zozos making first start since Kentucky Derby

People wondered during the last week of April and first week this past May which of trainer Brad Cox’s three Kentucky Derby runners had the best chance. The betting market established a firm hierarchy: Cyberknife was 14-1, Zozos 48-1, and Tawny Port 80-1.

The money was not smart. Tawny Port led the trio with a seventh-place finish, going on to win the Ohio Derby and to finish third in the Jim Dandy at Saratoga. Cyberknife finished 18th but subsequently won the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational and was second in the Grade 1 Travers, second in the Pennsylvania Derby, and second by a head in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. He’s working at Fair Grounds toward his career finale next month in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

Zozos wound up 14th in the Derby, not bad considering he raced in third through the first half-mile, sticking close to a punishing pace that wilted any horse near it. The other Derby top five at the half-mile pole were Summer Is Tomorrow, who finished last; Crown Pride, who was 13th; Messier, 15th at the finish; and Cyberknife.

What has Zozos done since? Nothing, but the Munnings colt, bred and owned by Barry Butzow and Joni Butzow, finally makes his first post-Derby start Saturday at Fair Grounds. He’s entered to run 1 1/16 miles in a second-level allowance race with a $50,000 claiming option and is part of an overflow field of 13, a huge number for a race at this class level. The field includes a coupled entry of My Romeo Lima and Uninvited Guest, the latter an also-eligible.

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Zozos didn’t debut until Jan. 23 at Fair Grounds, winning a maiden sprint in solid if unspectacular fashion, but a second-out, two-turn allowance romp at Oaklawn put him on the Triple Crown radar. Zozos jumped into stakes competition at Fair Grounds, setting the pace and finishing second behind Epicenter in the Louisiana Derby, his final start before the Kentucky Derby, after which Cox soon announced the colt would be sidelined for an indefinite period.

Cox said last month that Zozos had suffered no major injury that led to this break of more than seven months. Zozos had his first published post-layoff workout Oct. 28, breezing three furlongs at Churchill Downs, going on to work another three-eighths, a half-mile, and five furlongs there before drilling a half-mile Dec. 10 at Fair Grounds.

Is he ready? Probably ready enough for this level of competition, based on a close analog.

On Dec. 18, 2019, Cox ran Warrior’s Charge in a Fair Grounds race at this class level and distance, the horse’s first start since a fourth-place Preakness finish the previous May; Warrior’s Charge won by two lengths at odds of 4-5.

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